How to Create a Custom Blog Signature with PicMonkey

When I started seriously blogging over three years ago, I quickly understood the importance of how well-chosen images and graphics played in blog posts and on websites.

Soon after, I also noticed some bloggers included their name or signature at the end of their posts. I liked how it looked and how it graphically tied the entire post together.

About a year ago I got into the habit of including my “signature.” I began by using a free app called My Live Signature.

Here is an example of one I’ve used.

Recently, I wanted to use different seasonal themes with my signature, and rather than try to use an image, I found a simple way to create a custom signature using PicMonkey.

Editor’s Note: PicMonkey used to be free. I’ve had the first level premium account for over two years. For this tutorial, go to PicMonkey and open your free 7-day trial account to get an idea of their pricing plans. Just know that to save your work, you will have to purchase a premium plan.

When I published this post, I thought PicMonkey was free. If you already have the premium plan, then this article will still be helpful.

You can also read more about the overall benefits of having a paid plan in this article.

Then follow these simple directions for creating a seasonal signature. I recommend using these instructions on a laptop or computer.

How to Create a Signature Overlay for your Blog

Step 1. Open the program and hover the mouse over “design”. Select BLANK canvas.

Here you will see a selection of templates. I use the “rectangle ad large.” I recommend you select the transparent canvas feature or leave the white background. The transparent background looks like a white and grey grid.

NOTE: The tutorial images were taken as screen shots and cropped. I apologize for the slightly blurry quality, but it should still give you a good idea of what the menus look like.

Step 2. Select and you will see the canvas with choices on the sidebar. On the far left, select the Tt (text).

Choose your text from the menu, highlight, then select “add Text.”

Type your name into the field. Here you can choose the size (I choose a large size), and select the color.

Here you can also change the angle of the text, by mousing over the text box circle at the top of the box.

Step 3. Now go back to the sidebar where you selected the text and click on the butterfly (orange arrow).

This is the “overlay” section (purple arrow) where you can find hundreds of choices of graphics.

Below, the butterfly symbol is an icon (snowflake) at this publication and this is where you can choose themes for seasonal symbols.

I chose the Winterland theme. Scroll through the menu and select the overlay category.

Note that some choices come with a premium account, but the free version has lots of options.

Step 4. I selected “Frosty McSnow” (pink arrow) and clicked the mitten (red arrow above). Again, like the text option, you can change colors, resize, etc. It is very easy to move the individual graphics around on the template.

Using the arrows in the overlay pop-up window, I switched the angle of the mitten. If you want the image to be more transparent, you can use the fade feature.

Step 5. Choose save file (“export), or save to the *hub for future changes. Name your image file and save. *The hub may be a premium feature.

Here is my finished product using the mitten. I save certain images to the hub so I can edit them later.

Many bloggers have their own branded logos and you can also select that overlay from an existing digital file and save it to the template. See example on the left.

PicMonkey has great tutorials for creating graphics and customizing your images. You can simply click on the “Get Started” icon at the top right of the page.

Once you have created a couple of these for your blog, just add these to your blog’s media file and voila! You can use them again and again.

I am working on several signatures for the upcoming seasons like winter, Valentine’s Day, St Patrick’s Day, Easter/Spring, etc.

In the featured image at the top of the post, I created the tropical flower signature overlay for future use on posts related to my Hawaiian vacation. It made a nice graphic.

My advice to bloggers is if you have a little bit of $$ to spend on your blog, especially if you use your own images, spend it on some type of photo editing service. I am not affiliated with PM; feel free to make an informed decision with the 7-day free trial.

I hope you find this tutorial helpful. Feel free to ask any questions, I’m happy to help! And so I leave you with my Christmas signature.

You came up with some great signatures Terri. I did not know that PicMonkey did not have a free platform anymore. Your helpful tutorial will be featured on the Blogger’s Pit Stop this week. Thanks
Kathleen
Blogger’s Pit Stop

Thanks so much for putting this together, Terri. I tried looking for the My Live Signature app and could not find it. Maybe it’s only available in your part of the world? I know that it can sometimes happen that certain apps are not available in certain countries.

Now, all I need to do is try Picmonkey. Something for me to do in the New Year. 😀

Your welcome! It’s quite fun, Hugh! I guess PM now charges for its services, but as I said, for me it’s worth it. I even water mark my images when they go on instagram, which PM does pretty easily. Let me know if you have questions when you decide to take a look. Oh, and you might have to access My live signature on a computer rather than a tablet.

I love PicMonkey and have the premium version, which as you say Terr, is in expensive. I had not thought of doing a signature with a seasonal overlay and this is a great idea! It is so easy to use this program for photo editing and I have a lot of fun with overlays – the ones in the program and my own.

I use Canva to make my Pinterest pins and it is quite good, too. Occasionally I buy an image for use – only $1 but only can use once. Sometimes it’s worth it. I upload images to Canva that I’ve worked on in PicMonkey. It’s a great duo and I use the free version of Canva.

I bought the premium version while it was still free to get more stuff. I have a hard time photo editing with Canvas, although I do like their templates. I eventually just need to look into photoshop, but my brain is too full!

A Little Bit About Me

I am a leisure educator (university adjunct faculty), self-published author, and retired recreation and parks practitioner living in Northern California. Second Wind Leisure Perspectives is my blog about living a leisure lifestyle.